Obama is declared the nominee, but Hillary is still in.

Barack Obama is now officially the democratic nominee, however Hillary Clinton, despite earlier reports from the Associated Press, did NOT concede. On BigRedMat I've never supported the idea of shortening the primary season to begin "the healing process", but I believe yesterday, June 3rd, was the right time for Hillary Clinton to officially endorse Barack Obama, and the fact that she did not do it yesterday, even after he surpassed the needed delegate count, continues the animosity, and in some cases anger between the two groups of supporters.

I think even Obama supporters, such as myself, realize that Obama won by an incredibly small margin, and that Obama will need to attract Clinton's supporters over to his side in order to win the general election. Hillary Clinton's supporters are enthusiastic, dedicated, and loyal, but unfortunately many of them are also angry, sad, and feel disenfranchised. There is definitely a need to bring her supporters over to the Obama side, but I disagree that the best way to accomplish this is to bring Clinton to the Obama ticket as his Vice President.

Remember that we have elections not simply to brag that we have won or lost, but to actually accomplish something in the future. I agree that an Obama/Clinton ticket would be all but unstoppable in November, but Hillary Clinton does not like living in the background, not even when she was the First Lady during her husband's presidency. Their disagreements over healthcare, social security, presidential negotiation tactics, and the war in Iraq, to name a few would be hard to stomach when it comes time for a Vice President to push the president's agenda.

In the end I believe that most Clinton supporters will vote for Barack Obama. I am sure there will be a small percentage of them that will stay home, and it will be quite hard for Obama's campaign to bring them back to the voting booths, but Clinton can help Obama starting now. In the end it is not only in the party's best interest, or even in the country's best interest, it is also in her best interest.

If Hillary Clinton is perceived as hurting the Obama campaign because of her lack of endorsement, she will not have many friends left in the democratic party. Some of her supporters already think that she should have conceded weeks ago, and the simple action of saying that she will not "make any decisions tonight" hurts the party, the country, and her chances of holding any significant political office. By not graciously exiting and getting behind Obama she is being perceived as blackmailing her way into his administration and that is pure poppycock.